Big Indiana Bass

BIB "On the Road": Waveland - 5.26.12

Memorial Day weekend is usually one of the busiest lake days of the year, and given the great weather, it was a tough call as to where to go. Historically, Waveland has actually been pretty quiet on such weekends, and so I made the drive over around 3PM to check it out. It was a good sign when I kept passing boats headed the other way as I drove along the roads getting closer to the lake. Every boat passed was an open parking spot in my mind.

Sure enough, I hit the park entrance, get through the gate and head to the ramp. Overall, it appeared that campers were light, another good sign. I finally made the turn to the ramp, and was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of ample parking close by.

I got launched and headed out to check some of the open water stuff. Bass had been shallow recently, but the deep bite had to be coming on by now, I thought. I hopped around as best I could with the wind, which was a totally unexpected condition. I threw a variety of baits including chatterbaits, deep cranks and jigs, and was able to catch 29 bass. The fish certainly weren't everywhere, but were grouped up a bit in a few spots. I caught 13 off one spot, and 11 off another to account for the majority of the bites. Not certain if it's the weird weather causing the change in bass behavior this year, or just a dwindling fish population.

A 3/8-oz. jig accounted for the biggest bass, while the chatterbait nabbed the second largest. For cranks, I threw the RC DD and a SK 5XD. Best 5 on the day went 19 pounds, though I was surprised by the number of smaller 12"-14" bass I also caught. Hopefully that bodes well for the lake.

We Interrupt This Broadcast...

Just a public service announcement to let you know I suffered a hard drive failure this weekend. Obviously, I'm working on getting things back in order, and assessing the damage. I've regained Internet access, so that's a good thing. Will hopefully be back to updating the site shortly. No fishing today or tomorrow, but I made a trip to Waveland Saturday, of which I'm hoping to update everyone with a report soon. Need to see what picture files I might still have left from the crash. Afraid I might have lost my entire e-mail file though...huge bummer if so.

BIB "On the Road": Glenn Flint - 5.25.12

More than the Weather Heating Up this Week

Here's a sure fire way to get fired up for the weekend - a sampling of pics I received here at Big Indiana Bass this week.

Rick Ford Jr. with a 6-04 absolute chunk caught from a central Indiana reservoir on a 1/2-oz. pivot point football jig rigged with a baby brush hog cast to a stump in 5ft of water.

Andy Worden with a near 21" bass that ate a crankbait this past Tuesday afternoon.

Kate and Jacob with some of the bass they caught from Waveland earlier this week on Rapala DT cranks and worms.

Zona: Don't Be That Guy

"Boat Ramps are Like Security Checkpoints at Airports:
Nobody Wants to Wait in That Line"

 

Dear Friends:

It's Memorial Day weekend - the "kick-off" of the recreational boating season. I'd like to share with you a timely message from a professional angler and TV show host friend of mine, Mark Zona. If you know Mark like I do, you can imagine him writing these words with a smile on his face and teeth clenched, but the point he makes is good for anyone who will be heading to the launch ramp this summer. Enjoy-

Kindest,
Scott Croft
BoatUS Public Relations

From Mark Zona:

Memorial Day is coming up. It's a time to slow down and remember every soldier that has made a sacrifice, suffered death or a life changing injury so that goobers like me could run around covering bass tournaments and filming fishing shows. Two simple words: "Thank You."

But look, I'm convinced that if I ever stop filming fishing shows, I could show up on any boat ramp in America on Memorial Day weekend and film a best-selling blooper tape of people struggling on boat ramps.

Look, do me a favor. Do us all a favor. Don't be "that guy." If you're reading this and you aren't absolutely confident that you'll be a thing of perfect efficiency when you get to the ramp this weekend - well, then - fix what needs fixing.

Is your cranking battery fresh, or has it been sitting stale as last year's Christmas cookies? And please tell me you're not going to ask your wife or brother-in-law, neither of whom have ever backed a boat down a ramp in their life, to "help you."

If you just absolutely have to rely on an amateur for assistance, then I'd recommend going to an empty parking lot for practice until they are experts at backing-up a trailer before you even consider humiliating them and yourself on 'game day' this coming weekend.

See, here's the deal, boat ramps are like security checkpoints at airports. Nobody wants to wait in that line, so don't make it worse by being totally unprepared when you're up to bat.

Boat ramps are not maintenance garages. It's not a place to tune up your outboard, organize your fishing tackle or take inventory of your water skies and inflatables.

It's not a playground either, so rein in the zoo monkeys. I love taking my kids to the lake. It's an important part of our lives. But I don't let the little crumb snatchers run rampant on the launch ramp. It's dangerous, and it's irresponsible.

Think of boat ramps as a toll booth. Get in. Get out. And getting out doesn't mean pulling up five-feet from the water's edge and stopping. Get way out of the way before you stop to re-adjust all your equipment for the ride home.

You guys that are reading this probably don't need a lecture. Most of you are proficient bass boat owners. But "the guy" that is "that guy" probably doesn't even realize that he is "that guy." So help him out, dudes. If you have one of those guys in your life - help him get prepared - Memorial Day is not the time to be a jackknife on the boat ramp.

And by all means, speaking of being prepared, no matter how proficient you are on the ramp - make sure you call BoatUS Angler to sign-up for a membership www.BoatUS.com/angler/. You just never know when you're gonna need assistance on the road to the lake, or once you're on the water. And certainly let's hope none of us have issues on the boat ramp this coming weekend.

BassFan Rankings Updated (Indiana)

BassFan updated their world rankings Monday, and I've assembled the Indiana contingent into a single table for ease of reference. Overall, a pretty good week, with 8 guys gaining ground, while only 6 lost. The red/green column shows how many spots they moved up or down from the previous ranking.

New black bass rules take effect this week!

Rule changes adopted earlier this year to provide increased protection for black bass in certain rivers and streams will become effective on Friday (May 25).

With a few exceptions, a person catching black bass (smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass) from a river or stream may keep only those fish that are under 12 inches or over 15 inches long. The daily bag limit for black bass is five fish singly or in aggregate, which means the catch limit may include any combination of the three bass species. No more than two can be over 15 inches.

The exceptions are:

–Rivers and streams in counties bordering the Ohio River still have a 12-inch minimum size limit, with an aggregate bag limit of five black bass. Those counties are Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Floyd, Harrison, Jefferson, Ohio, Perry, Posey, Spencer, Switzerland, Vanderburgh and Warrick.

–The Blue River in Crawford, Harrison and Washington counties still has a 12- to 15-inch slot limit and an aggregate bag limit of five black bass, with no more than two being more than 15 inches.

–The minimum size limit on the Ohio River main stem (not bays and tributaries) remains at 12 inches for black bass, with a daily bag limit of six.

The changes are in response to public concerns regarding harvest pressure on smallmouth bass that were expressed during the Indiana Natural Resources Commission’s comprehensive rule enhancement project.

The NRC Advisory Council, Indiana Sportsmen’s Roundtable, fishing groups and individual anglers supported a rule change to further restrict the taking of black bass, especially smallmouth, to potentially provide a larger number of bass for anglers in the future. The protection for black bass that are 12- to 15-inches long is intended to limit harvest of these fish when they have the highest reproductive potential.

The new rule does not affect existing regulations on lakes or reservoirs (including Lake Michigan), where black bass must be at least 14 inches long to be kept. Black bass size and bag limits at specific locations such as state fish & wildlife areas, state forests, national forests and other sites outlined in Indiana Administrative Code 312 9-7-6 also remain unchanged.

BIB "On the Road": Cataract L. - 5.20.12

It wasn't the plan, but I again ended up out at Cataract Lake on Sunday. The original idea was to hit Waveland and try for some bass, but the effort fell through at the last minute, and at 1:30 I had a decision to make about what to do to salvage the afternoon. Given the good bite on Saturday and the fact that everything tackle-wise from that trip was still loaded in the boat, I decided to head back out there again.

Didn't pull up and launch until 2:30, and again the lot was full and the boats were buzzing all over the lake - not terrible Raccoon-like though. I decided to start on the same hole I started on Saturday, only this time I got better positioning than the day before and it helped a lot. Thirty-five fish later, I was off to a good start and getting ready to move to the next spot.

I graphed down the bank where I had found 2 other schools the day before, but it appeared that they had vacated the area. I could have run to some nearby waypoints, but instead I decided to look around on a nearby bank and try and find something new. When you're faced with a new lake or a nothing looking bank that looks like every other bank on the lake (see pic below), you either need a good map, or a fast way of eliminating some water to find more fish. I decided to turn on the side imaging unit and go looking.

Knowing that my fish have been coming out of 7'-12' of water mostly, I just tried to move parallel to the bank and stay in that 10'-20' depth range. When the depth starts coming up, you move out a bit. When the depth starts dropping too quickly, you move in. Since I was headed in a single direction with the same side of the boat facing the shoreline, I switched the SI unit over to reading just one side. That serves the dual purpose of also doubling image size, like running 2X zoom on your depthfinder. I ended up finding 2 new groups of fish this way, and took this screenshot image of one of the spots straight off the unit.

I ended up finding 4 good spots, and catching 105 crappie in 3 hours. Many of them appeared to be females still full of eggs, though I didn't keep or clean any of them. I also caught several males both days that still had their darker spawning colors about them, making me wonder if they still might be trying to nest in some areas. Water temps were in the upper 70's, and the lake clarity was good as long as you weren't too close to a windblown bank, which were developing pretty good mudlines on them by late afternoon.

On Tour with Todd: FLW Tour Major - Potomac River Wrap-Up Journal

Event #4 of 6 is now in the books at the Potomac River.  I finished a disappointing 95th place after weighing in two consecutive 12-pound limits. 

To be honest, I can't say that I messed this event up - I fished clean and found the same areas holding fish that everyone else did.  I didn't miss anything in practice and I didn't have any execution problems.  I've had a day to reflect on this event, and knowing that I finished ahead of guys like Jason Christie, Dave Wolak, I can't hang my head too far.  This was an interesting event where 20-40 boats would pile into small areas.  Those who got the 3 and 4-pound bites moved up.  Unfortunately, I didn't get those bites. 

In the big picture, I should stay in the points race with a chance to make the Cup with two events to go.  Going to a brand new venue without any experience on it, and throw in a tide to complicate matters - I'm proud of myself for catching a solid limit both days on a new body of water.

I've also had some up-close and personal encounters with both some of the good-guys and the bad-guys in the sport.  I've seen how some anglers use each other to work them for information, fishing spots, and even steal waypoints.  Terrance and I had dinner out the night that Day 2 wrapped up and witnessed an example right in front of our eyes, where one "rookie" tried to work me for Kentucky Lake info while his father worked another Kentucky Lake expert for info and waypoints at the next table.  It's really sad to see that the new generation of anglers thinks that this is the way to succeed.  I'm learning who those guys are on Tour, and trust me, you know their names quite well.  In fact, the angler that was working me for Kentucky Lake also told me a story about how he was used and abused by another Indiana rookie.  I've been there too.  I left dinner pretty disgusted that night, knowing that some of the success these guys are having is directly tied to them getting better help and in many cases taking advantage of people.  It's a sad, but true, reality in our sport.  I'll continue to work hard using my own resources and not trying to steal anything from anybody, but rather earn my finishes and gain the valuable experience to benefit from in the years to come.  But more importantly, I'll continue to try to help others and honor God in the process, and I'll let Him decide when I will do well in my next tournament. 

With that being said, I also had an opportunity to help another angler who is one of the good guys on Tour, Clifford Pirch.  Clifford was broke down a few miles from check-in on Day 1.  I pulled over to pick him and his co-angler up to get them back to weigh-in with one minute to spare.  Once the weigh-in was over, we troubleshooted his problem and ended up having to track down a prop from Ish Monroe and a cotter pin from the service trailer over the next few hours.  I joked with Clifford that he was on my mother-in-law's Fantasy Fishing team, so I had to help get him back on the water so he could make a Top 10.  As I write this, Clifford was in 3rd going into the final day and had a chance to win.  He went out of his way to thank me and show his appreciation for me stopping to help.  I pray that Clifford wins at the Potomac, as he deserves it.

I've been away from home for 17 days and missed several of my sons' baseball games.  Multiple traffic jams, parking in unsafe neighborhoods, equipment failures, 12 hour drives, sleeping in the truck, running out of clean clothes, getting caught on the lake in storms, dirty bathrooms, cold coffee.....these are just some of the unpleasant things you get to deal with as a professional angler.  If you think this is "living the dream," reality quickly sets in.  But let me tell you, I'm honored and blessed to be out here doing what I love in the outdoors and pulling the Red Gold boat across our beautiful country. 

We'll regroup over the next couple of weeks and will be looking to make a move at Kentucky Lake.  Thanks to all of you who continue to support and encourage me.  God Bless!

BIB "On the Road": Cataract L. - 5.19.12

Always on the lookout for a sucker shot, word on the street is that Cataract has been the hot lake for crappie this spring. A couple years of extremely high water, coupled with a drier than normal spring has the fish production at the reservoir in high gear. I'd already made one trip out there about a month back and did well, but was anxious to get back out.

I launched onto a pretty crowded lake about 2:00, and was catching crappie about 5 minutes later. Sometimes you don't need side imaging or any of the other fancy hi-tech equipment we all have. Today was one such day. If you have a good 2-D graph and a little understanding of what to look for, you were in business.

Crappie tend to school in one of two formations, either a "christmas tree" formation, a vertical column of fish that tends to be wider at the base and narrower at the top (see pic), or a flatter and more compressed "lasagna" formation. Today was a christmas tree day. Every time I graphed such a group of crappie in relation to cover or a drop off, I'd simply toss a jig back to them while holding in position. If I got bit within a cast or two, I'd hold position and whack on them until they stopped biting, then move on to the next school.

Every school I found was a biting school, and the bite was as good as I had heard. After catching 100 fish, I packed it up and headed home.